Art: Reliving Corbing at Upstairs at the Greenwich

The art world suffered a great blow last December with the passing of University of Cincinnati Painting Professor Tarrence Corbin who touched the lives of countless students including Matthew Miller-Novak, a graduate of UC’s Master of Fine Arts program. Miller-Novak pays homage to Corbin with the exhibition Reliving Corbin, opening 7-10 p.m. Saturday at Upstairs at the Greenwich. Corbin himself frequented the Greenwich, an artsy nightspot with a gallery upstairs, making the venue perfect for Miller-Novak’s tribute exhibition.

Miller-Novak cites Corbin as “the reason I came to Cincinnati,” a statement made by many of Corbin’s graduate students. He had been working on a series of book illustrations when he heard about Corbin’s terminal illness. The shocking news prompted Miller-Novak to return to his abstract painting roots, influenced by Corbin’s buoyant, graphic abstractions. In his series at the Greenwich, Miller-Novak employs ink and acrylic to create black-and-white abstractions filled with smoky, moody atmosphere.